Bezledy


Bezledy is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bartoszyce, within Bartoszyce County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It lies approximately north-west of Bartoszyce and north of the regional capital Olsztyn.

History

An Old Prussian castle named Beselede, property of the Natangian nobleman Posdraupote, was first mentioned in a chronicle of the Teutonic Order in 1274, when the castle had been besieged by Sudovians. The village was mentioned as an Old Prussian settlement in 1338 and in 1400 as the property of Philipp von Beisleiden with a size of 20 "Hufen", a square measure of the Teutonic Knights. Throughout the Polish-Teutonic Hunger War of 1414 the settlement was destroyed by Polish troops, who killed 3 men and caused a damage of 300 Mark. Philipp von Beisleiden was a supporter of the Prussian Confederation, who opposed the rule of the Teutonic Knights. In 1484 the von Prömock family, a noble family of Old Prussian origin, was mentioned as owner of the village, which lasted until 1671. After a time of constantly changing landlords Beisleiden was bought by Ludwig von Oldenburg in 1801, whose family owned the manor until 1945. The manor house was completely destroyed in 1945.
Until 1945 the area was part of the German Province of East Prussia, Beisleiden was occupied by the Soviet Red Army in February 1945 throughout the East Prussian Offensive. After World War II the area was placed under Polish administration according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement. Germans fled or were expelled and replaced with Poles expelled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union or forced to settle in the area through Operation Vistula in 1947.
The village has a population of 470 and is the main border crossing point between Russia and Poland.

Notable residents